We’ve Signed Two Big Players

JOE WORRALL was delighted to see Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis arrive at the club’s winter training camp in Tenerife on Sunday and he believes both players will have a huge impact on the Rangers squad.

Defoe put pen to paper on an 18-month switch from Premier League side Bournemouth and is a striker with vast experience having scored 20 goals in 57 appearances for England and 162 Premier League goals in a career spanning 20 years.

Davis, of course, returns to Rangers having won eight domestic honours in his previous spell at the club from January 2008 to the summer of 2012. He also captained the Light Blues and has done the same at international level, with over 100 international caps for Northern Ireland to his name.

Worrall is thrilled that both players are now on board for the second half of the 2018/19 season in Scotland.

Speaking to RangersTV, he said: “It’s massive, they are two big players. Defoe is a goalscorer and Davis has been here before and knows what it is about.

“That’s what we’ve been crying out for, some experience in the dressing room. I’m not saying that we didn’t have that, but to add more is brilliant and I’m looking forward to playing with them.”

On Defoe’s move to Ibrox, Joe continued: “It’s brilliant and the work he has done off the pitch as well just shows the kind of guy he is. His goal record is phenomenal.

“I remember watching him play for England and he scored a hat-trick at Wembley against Bulgaria.

“So yeah, you don’t need to say anything about him. He is a great player and obviously Davis is experienced, he’s been here, he loves Rangers and that’s what we need.

“He’ll be a spearhead in the dressing room, he’ll be digging lads out and coaxing them along and that’s what everyone needs, including myself.

“But he adds quality as well. He’s not just a shouter or an experienced player, he’s more of a leader in the dressing room and he’ll get the best out of some of the boys and he’ll add some flair on the pitch as well.”

Worrall believes the winter break will be beneficial to the squad as a whole after the demanding fixture schedule in December, although from a personal point of view he would have liked to have extended his own run of games having played against Hibs on Boxing Day and in the 1-0 victory over Celtic on December 29.

He said: “I joined a little bit late, on transfer deadline day, and a lot of work had been done in the summer with the players.

“I think I have integrated well but now it’s kind of like another little pre-season and we’ve added more bodies as well so we can get in the swing of things, feed off each other and push on in the second half of the season.

“It’s strange. I think I play my best football personally when I get a run of games and I was just starting to get in the swing of things, playing well against Hibs and obviously the Celtic game.

“So it’s come at a pretty bad time for me because I got back in the team and I started playing well, but I just need to get games under my belt and I’m really enjoying it here.”